{"id":2772,"date":"2017-02-03T23:41:53","date_gmt":"2017-02-03T14:41:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2017-02-03\/2772"},"modified":"2017-02-03T23:41:53","modified_gmt":"2017-02-03T14:41:53","slug":"heian-shrine-setsubun-burn-2017-lackluster-photos-of-a-visually-exciting-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2017-02-03\/2772","title":{"rendered":"Heian Shrine Setsubun Burn, 2017: Lackluster Photos of a Visually-Exciting Event"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nChucking Another Onto the Fire<\/span>\nHeian Shrine (\u5e73\u5b89\u795e\u5bae)\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Today was the Setsubun festival at the Heian Shrine (and many shrines around Japan).\nI've written about the overall festival earlier, such as\n“<\/span>Setsubun and Mamemaki: Driving out the Demons<\/a>”<\/span>\nnine years ago, and\n“<\/span>Attack (and Repulsion) of the Evil Spirits<\/a>”<\/span> five years ago.<\/p>\n\n

Today I went only to watch the final bonfire event. I explain<\/span> it in some detail in\n“<\/span>Intense Burn: Shinto Rite at the Heian Shrine<\/a>”<\/span> from nine years ago,\nand so like this post from five years ago<\/a>, this time are just some photos.<\/p>\n\n

I wandered over to the shrine about half an hour before the fires were to start, only to find that they were almost done already! )-:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nScene When I Arrived<\/span><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

That was a bummer.<\/p>\n\n

I broke out my Nikkor 300mm f\/2<\/a> and started shooting as best I could<\/span> without having done the prep I should<\/span> have (camera settings, etc.). My photography<\/span> mojo has gone downhill since cycling has taken my attention.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nGrabbing Some Stacks<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOne By One Into the Fire<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

(Again, what's going on during this festival is explained in this blog post<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nChanting<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I'm having the hardest time with the white balance for these shots. The scenes<\/span> include any number of things that are\nostensibly “<\/span>white”<\/span>, such as parts of the red\/white striped banners in the background, and the shirts\/collars of the chanting priests,\nbut using them with Lightroom's white-balance tool yields wildly crazy results that are just all over the map.<\/p>\n\n

On top of that, they feel washed out and dull, and the focus is off. I dunno.<\/span> Gotta get my mojo back.<\/p>\n\n

300mm seems to be a bit tight for this event. I used Lightroom<\/span> to stitch together a few<\/span> shots to make this:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMulti-Shot Stitch<\/span>\nnot very “<\/span>panorama”<\/span> like when the source is 300mm\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Check out the ripples in the upper-right corner:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n(close up from the previous shot)\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nChanters<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>2000 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHot<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFrom a Safe<\/span> Distance<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nRipply<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n(close up from previous shot)\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

It was over pretty quickly, and that was that. I've got to use this lens more than once a year<\/span> to get used to it.<\/p>\n\n

While things were winding down, I chatted<\/span> with a group<\/span> of students on summer break from their university in Australia.\nThey posed for a photo<\/span>:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nKyoto for the Summer<\/span>\n(this<\/i> chilly place is where they spend their summer? \ud83d\ude42 )\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>6400 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAll Done<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today was the Setsubun festival at the Heian Shrine (and many shrines around Japan). I've written about the overall festival earlier, such as \"Setsubun and Mamemaki: Driving out the Demons\" nine years ago, and \"Attack (and Repulsion) of the Evil Spirits\" five years ago.<\/p>

Today I went only to watch the final bonfire event. I explain it in some detail in \"Intense Burn: Shinto Rite at the Heian Shrine\" from nine years ago, and so like this post from five years ago, this time are just some photos.<\/p>

I wandered over to the shrine about half an hour before the [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2,26,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2772"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2772\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}